Pope, Anglican Head Offer Prayers for London Victims
The Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Benedict XVI offered their condolences and prayers for the victims of the “terrorist attacks” in London Thursday morning, and urged the faithful to stand and together under the guidance of God.
The Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Benedict XVI offered their condolences and prayers for the victims of the “terrorist attacks” in London Thursday morning, and urged the faithful to stand and together under the guidance of God.
"All those caught up in this tragedy…all are in my own prayers and in the prayers of a great many people,” said Dr. Rowan Williams, the head of the 70-million-member Anglican Communion.
According to a U.S. law enforcement officer, at least 40 people died and hundreds injured from the four blasts that ripped across London’s transit system; three blasts hit a London subway while one tore open a packed double-decker bus. British officials have yet to make the death toll public, and the U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press.
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The attacks coincided with the opening of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, and a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who rushed from the summit to return to London, labeled the bombings “terrorist attacks” and said such violence would not stop the work of the summit.
Pope Benedict also said he deplored the “terrorist attacks” and called them “barbaric acts against humanity.”
"Deeply saddened by the news of the terrorist attacks in central London, the Holy Father offers his fervent prayers for the victims and for all those who mourn," a telegram sent to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster, read. "While he deplores these barbaric acts against humanity, he asks you to convey to the families of the injured his spiritual closeness at this time of grief."
"Upon the people of Great Britain, he invokes the consolation that only God can give in such circumstances," said the telegram, signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
Williams, meanwhile, emphasized the need to stand in “solidarity and common purpose” in a time of “pain and sorrow and anger.”
"We in the faith communities will have to continue to stand and work together for the well being of our nation and for our shared understanding of the life that God calls us to. I hope that we shall all keep that vision alive at this deeply sad and testing time."
